Storage-battery system.



UNITED STATES PATENT oFFTCE.

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB AND FARNUM F.

DORSEY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK,v

ASSIGNORS T0 NORTH EAST ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION' OF NEW YORK.

STORAGE-BATTERY SYSTEM.

Application .led February 8, 1913.

T0 all whom t may Concern Be it known that we, EDWARD A. HALB- LEIB and FARNUM l?. DoRsEY, citizens of the United States, and residents of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Storage-Battery Systems, of which the ollowing is a speciic'atio'n.

This invention relates to electric systems of the type in which a storage-battery is employed as a source of electricity for energizing electric lights, motors, or other translating-devices, the battery being charged by the operation of a direct-current electric generator. ln systems of this type, particularly as employed upon railway-vehicles or automobiles, it is common to connect the battery and the generator in a charging-circuit through which current flows, 'rom the generator, in a direction to charge the battery so long as a suiicient speed, with a corresponding electromotive force, is maintained in the generator by the source of power from which it is actuated. l/Vhen the speed of the generator diminishes be yond a certain point, as the result of a diminution in the speed of the source of power, the electromotive force of the generator becomes less than that of the battery, and current then tends to flow in a reverse direction in the charging-circuit, causing the generator to operate, by virtue of its well-known reversible character, as a motor energized by the battery, without change in its direction of rotation. ln fact, the generator is sometimes expressly employed, as in certain well known engine-starting systems, as -a source of power when operating in this man ner, constituting, thus, the translating-device for the energization of'which the storage-battery is employed.

ln systems of the type in question, especially where, 'as in the case of vehicles, the source of power operates at speedsv which vary frequently and rapidly from nothing to a maximum, it is desirable, in order that waste of battery-energy may be avoided7 to provide automaticv means for preventing the return-How of current in the charging-circuit when the speed, and the resulting elec. tromotive force of the generator, fall below what is necessary to overcome the electro- Specication of Letters Iatent.

Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

Serial No. 747,209.

to overrun the source of power by which it is normally actuated. rThrough suitable mechanical. or electrical connections this overrunning action is made to result in the interposition, in the charging-circuit, of a resistance, either partial or complete, to the returning current. This feature of the invention may be employed in conjunction with various means for throwing the resistance out of the charging-circuit when the generator-is -operating at sutlicient speed for charging, but it is preferably used in connection with the novel automatic device for this purpose hereinafter disclosed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a system of the type in question with novel and improved means operating automatically, when the generator attains suicient speed as the result of its actuation" by the source of power, tocut out a resistance which has previously been interposed in the charging-circuit to oppose the return-How of current. To this end we employ means Whic are connected with the generator vindependently of the charging-circuit and which act, independently of the conditions therein, to throw out such resistance as the result of the attainment, by the generator, of a speed: and a corresponding electromotive force suHicient to overcome the electromotive force ofthe battery. This second feature of the invention may be employed in conjunction with means of various kinds for throwing the resistance into the charging-circuit, but it is preferably used in combinationv with the novel automatic means for that purpose hereinbefore described'.

Other objects of the invention, and the features of construction and arrangement by which theseveral objects are or may be attained, are set forth in the'following description of the illustrated embodiment ofy y embodied in a storage-battery system in which the generator is employed as a means for starting an internal-combustion engine by which it is normally actuated; and Fig. 2 illustrates, diagrammatically, a modification in the apparatus of Fig. 1.

lln the drawings a storage-battery 5 is conventionally indicated, the terminals of the storage-battery being connected with the main wires or conductors 6 and 7 of a loadcircuit through which translating-devices, such as electric lights 8, may be supplied with current. The battery is charged by means vof a compound-wound electric generator having an armature 9, a shunt iieldwinding 10 and a series field-winding 11. An internal-combustion engine 12 of con'- ventional form is indicated as the source of power by which the generator is normally actuated. This engine is connected, through means such as a belt or chain 13, With a power-shaft 14 upon which is fixed a clutchmember 15 having inclined teeth, as shown in Fig. 1, so that it is adaptedto transmit power only in one direction, viz: from the engine to the generator, the engine being adapted to operate in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1.

The engine-actuated clutch-member 15 is adapted to cooperate with a sliding clutchmember 16 having corresponding teeth at its right-hand end. The sliding clutchmember 16 is mounted loosely upon a squared portion 17 of the armature-shaft otthe generator, so that it is compelled to rotate with the armature-shaft, but is free to slide thereon to permit it to be engaged with, or disengaged from, the clutch-member 15. The 'normal position of the parts is indicated in Fig. 1, the engine being thus adapted to rotate the armature-shaft and cause the generator to produce electricity for the purpose of charging the storage-battery and to assist in supplying the mainconductors 6 and 7.

The current produced in the armature of the generator flows through a wire 18, from which a part of it passes, through the wire 6, to a wire 19 by which the storage-battery is supplied during the recharging operation; and the charging-current returns from the storage-battery, through a wire 20, to the main wire 7. From the wire 7 the current returns to the generator by way of a circuit-breaker which constitutes a feature of the present invention. This circuitbreaker is indicated, diagrammatically, as having a movablecontact-nger coperating with a fixed contact 23. When the circuit-breaker is in closed position, as illusing is opposed to that of the shunt fieldtically operative system. From the winding 11 the current returns, through a wire 27, to the negative terminal of the armature, thus completing the circuit through which the battery is recharged, or through which the generator may supply current to the translating-devices.

Tt has previously been proposed to employ an automatic circuit-breaker in the generator-circuit, as in the case of the circuit-breaker above described, but in such previous constructions this circuit-breaker has been operated in the manner of a polarized relay, or in other manners which it is not necessary to describe herein. Tn the preswe ent invention the circuit-breaker is operated and controlled in a novel manner, both to interrupt and to reestablish the charging-circuit automatically in accordance with variations in the electromotive torce of the gen- 105 erator. The contact-linger 22 is illustrated, diagrammatically, as constituting also the armature of anelectromagnet 26, and this electromagnet is so connected with the generator as to be normally energized by cur- 11o rent supplied thereby. Tn Fig. 1 the current flows through the wires 18 and 6, and through a wire 27 to the magnet 26, and thence, through a wire 28, to a fixed contact 29 constituting one of a series of iXed 115 contacts cooperating with a movable contact-member 30. Tn the normal position of the parts current flows from the fixed contact 29, through the contact-member 30, to a fixed contact 31, and thence through a 12a wire 25 back to the generator, the magnet 26 being thus connected in parallel with the shunt-winding 10 of the generator-field. Tn this arrangement the magnet 26 may also be energized by current from the storage- 12 battery so long as the contact-finger 22 engages the fixed contact 23. The current :fram the battery flows, for this purpose, through a circuit including the wires 19,

6, 27, and 28, the contact-members 29, 30 13o and 31, the wire 25, the series field-Winding 11, the wire 24, the contact-members 23 and 22, and the wires 21, 7 and 20. Accordingly, the contact-finger 22 is normally held firmly against the fixed contact 23. A spring 32 is connected, however, with the contact-finger, this spring being normally under tension and tending to move the contact-finger away from the fixed contact.

In accordance with the present invention the spring 32is caused or permitted to move the contact-finger to open-circuit position whenever the generator armature tends to overrun the driving mechanism by which it is connected with the engine 12, in consequence of a reduction in the speed of the engine to a-poi-ntV atA which the electromotive force produced by the generator is less than that of the storage-battery. In such a case current returns from the storage-battery through the same circuit by which the generator normally charges the battery, and the generator begins to operate as an electric motor. The armature-shaft then tends to rotate faster than the power-shaft 1-1, and, owing to the beveled form of the clutchteeth on the clutch-members 15 and 16, this results in a left-hand movement of the member 16 upon the armature-shaft whereby the clutch-teeth become disengaged so as to permit the member 16 to rotate faster than the member 15. To render this movement of the clutch-member effective for the required purpose the clutch-member 16 is connected, by suitable mechanism, with the circuit-controller of which the movable contact-membei' 30l is an element. Such connections are illustrated, in Fig. 1, as comprising a. lever 33, which is forked to engage an annular groove in the clutch-member 16 and is pivoted upon an axis 34. This lever is connected, by `a. rod 35, with the movable contact-member 30 of' the circuit-controller, and when the disengaging movement of the clutch occurs the connections just described operate to move the contact-member 30 to the right ot' the position shown in Fig. 1. The effect ot' this movement is to disengage the contact-meinber 30 from the fixed contacts 29 and 31, and thereby break the circuit through the winding ot' the electromagnet 26.

When the electromagnet is denergized, as just described, it releases the contact-finger 22, which is then immediately drawn away from the fixed contact 23 by the spring and in this manner the charging-circuit between the generator and the storage-battery is interrupted, as well as the connections between the generator and the translating-devices. The return-How of current from the storage-battery is thus discontinued immediately and automatically, and the overrunning movement of.E the generator ceases.

spring 50. connected with the lever 33, tends to swing the lever back to the position of F ig. l so as to cause the clutch-members 15 and 16 to engage each other, and after the interruption of' the return-flow of current, as above described, this spring acts immediately to rengage the clutch-members.

The generator then again begins to generate current of which the electromotive force depends upont-he speed of'5the generator and the 4engine 12. So long as this speed continues insufficient to produce an electromotive force greater than that of the storagebattery the circuit-breaker remains in opencircuit position. Since the circuit-controller has been returned to normal position, however, by the return ofl the clutch-member 16 to operative position, the circuit is closed through the electromagnet 26, so that the magnet is energized by current from the generator. When the speed of the engine 12 rises again to the necessary degree the flow of current through the electromagnet becomes sufficient to overcome the spring 32, whereupon the magnet draws the contactfinger 22 again into engagement with 'the fixed contact 28, thus restablishing the charging-circuit between the generator and the battery.

In the arrangement above described the generator-armature itself constitutes, in effect, the primary means by which the charging-circuit is interrupted, this interruption occurring as the result of the tendency of' the armature to overrun the source of power by which it is normally actuated. Consequently the action is much more positive and reliable than where it depends upon the delicate and sensitive action of polarized armatures and similar devices. The means by which the overrunning action of the armature is utilized for this purpose may be widely varied in construction and arrangement. In Fig. 1 these means are shown as operating in part electrically upon the contact-finger In'place ot such an arrangement, however, the same effect may be produced by wholly mechanical means, a modification of the apparatus for this purpose being illustrated in Fig. 2. In this modified arrangement the return-wire 28 from the electromagnet 26 is not connected with the circuit-controller, but passes directly to the wire 25 and the generatorterminal. In this case the contact-finger is moved to open-circuit position by means of mechanism comprising a projection 4:6 from the circuit-controller, which engages an arm 47 on the contact-finger. lVhen the contactmember 30 of the circuit-controller is moved to the right by the throwing-out action of the clutch-member 16, as above described, the parts 46 and l? act to move the contactfinger 22 forcibly away 'from the electromagnet 26 andy the fixed Contact 23, thus breaking the cl'iarging-circuit and interrupt! ing the return-fiow of current from the story age-battery -through both the generator and the electromagnet. ln this modified arrangement the further operations of the apparatus are similar to those above described,

the electromagnet operating to return the y@ adjusted that there is a substantial di'erence between the electromotive force at which the charging-circuit is opened, and that at which it is closed, this arrangement having the advantage that it prevents the ,'rapid recurrence of the automatic operations upon slight changes in speed in the engine and the generator.

While we have illustrated an engine as the source of power for actuating the generator,

it will be understood that the arrangement,

in so far as abovevdescribed, is useful in systems wherein other sources of power are employed, as, for example, in lighting-systems upon railway vehicles, in which the source of power may be an axle of the vehicle as in various well known arrangements. 'llhe present invention has a particular utility, however, inl connection with apparatus employed for the purpose of automatically a0 starting an internal-combustion engine, such apparatus being illustrated, for example, 1n

the pending application of Edward A. Halbleib, one of' the present applicants, filed November 6, 1911, Serial No. 658,902. We

have accordingly illustrated the present invention as embodied in such a system. rlhe clutch-member 16 isA provided, at its lefthaud end, with another series of clutchteeth which are adapted to coperate with similar teeth on a clutch-member 36 which is mounted to rotate freely upon the armatureshaft. This latter clutch-member constitutes also one of' a train of gears comprising also a gear 37 and a pinion 39 fixed on a countershaft 38. rl`he pinion 39 meshes with a gear 40 which is mounted to rotate loosely upon the power-shaft 14. The gear 40 carries a pawl 41 which coperates with a ratchet-wheel 42 fixed lto the power-shaft.

The direction of operation -of the clutches and of the ratchet and pawl-mechanism is such that when the clutch-member 16 is moved to its extreme left-hand position, so as to engage the clutch-member 36, the generator, operating now as an electric motor,

may drive the power-shaft 14 throughthe speed-reducing gearing and thus supply -power for rotating the engine-shaft in a direction to start the engine from a position of rest. As soon as the engine begins to operate under its own power, however, the ratchet-and-pawl mechanism permits the power-shaft to overrun the gear 40, so that the power-shaft may then actuate the arma- 65,.ture-shaft, in the manner hereinbefore deinsana@ scribed, independently of the speed-reducing gearing.

'.lo control the apparatus for starting lthe engine the lever 33 may be employed as a manually-operable device 'for shifting the clutch-member 16; and during this startingoperation the circuit-controller above described has the further function of controlling 'the electric circuits to permit current from the storage-battery to return through the generator to operate the generator as a motor. The electrical connections by which this is accomplished are similar to those disclosed in said application. The wire Z is extended into connection with a fixed contact y45, and coperates with the lower surface of the movable contact-member 30, while still another fixed contact 43 coperates with its upper surface. When the lever 33 is moved manually to the right, beyond the position to which it may be automatically moved by the overrunning-action above described, the contact-member 30 is brought to a position in which it connects the fixed contacts 45 and 43. rli`his results in short-circuiting the circuit-breaker so that, regardless of the operation of the contactfinger, current can iiow freely from the storage-battery, first through the wires 19, 6 and 18, and through the armatureand the vshunt field-Winding of the generator, and thenceback, through the wire 25, the series fieldwinding 11 and the wire 24, to a wire 44 connected with the fixed contact 43, and the current then flows through the contact-members 30 and 45, and through the wires 7 and' 20, back to the battery. As in said application, the last part of the movement ot' the lever 33 and the circuit-controller has the further action of short-circuiting the serieswinding 11, since it brings the left-hand end of the contact-member 30 into simultaneous engagement with the fixed contacts 3l and 45, and thus'permits current to flow directly from the fixed contact 31 through the contact-member 30 to the fixed Contact 45, the object of this final operation being to reduce the strength of the generator field for the purpose of obtaining a higher speed of rotation, all as set forth in said application.

It will be apparent that the present invention is particularly adapted for employment in connection with an engine-starting apparatus such as that described, for the reason that the electrical and mechanical operations by which the circuit-breaker are controlled are conveniently and simply effected v through the operation of' the same clutchmechanism by which the starting operation is caused to occur', and thus a reliable automatic device for controlling the return-flow of battery-current is produced with a simple arrangement of circuits and of mechanism.

While the circuit-breaker may be arranged to completely interrupt the charging-circuit between the generator and the storage-battery, it is preferable to permit, at all times when the battery yis not being recharged, a slight return-flow of current from the battery, both because this tends to iniprove the operation of the battery and also because it maintains the generator-'field in a slightly magnetized condition and enables theJ generator to take up its load more quicklywhen thrown into operation. Accordingly, we have shown a shunt-circuit around the contact-devices of the circuitbreaker, passing through a high-resistance coil or equivalent device 4.8., This arrangement constitutes no part of the present invention, but it will be understood that in the following claims, when we speak of the circuit-breaker as introducing resistance into the charging-circuit, we have reference to an arrangement in which such resistance maybe either the complete or prohibitive resistance due to the air-gap or complete break in the charging-circuit produced by the action of the circuit-breaker, or to the lower resistance ofthe shunt-circuit just described, since the eii'ect, in either case, is to substantially reduce the return-flow of current from the battery through the generator.

. While the illustrated apparatus is ladapted, as above described, to perform automatically both the interruption and the restablishment of the charging-circuit, the means by which these two operations are performed are so far independent of each other that either ofY them may be employed alone, or in conjunction with some other means for performing the contrary operation. That is to say, the means by which the circuit is interrupted through the overrunning action of the generator are not necessarily associated with theelectromagnetic means described for returning the circuitcloser to closed position, and, on the'other hand, such electromagnetic means may be usefully employed in the absence of the automatic means described, or any other automatic means, for breaking the chargingcircuit. In the preferred embodiment of the "closed position upon the attainment of a invention, however, these automatic means are used in con]uncti0n `since they produce, as above stated, a complete apparatus or system whichis very simple in construction and arrangement and reliable in operation.

Our invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but may be embodied in various other forms within. the nature of the invention as it is .defined in the following claims.

-We claim 1. Thelcombination, with an electric generator, a storage-battery, a source of power,

and mechai 1ical connections,V between the generator andthe source of power, including a one-way clutch of which the coperating elements have a relative disengagngmovement as the result of a tendency in the generator to overrun the source of power; of a circuit-breaker; conductors connecting the generator, the storage-battery and the circuitbreaker in a normally-closed charging circuit; and connections between the c lutch and the circuit-breaker whereby the circuit-breaker is caused to move to open position and interpose resistance to the return-flow of current through said circuit,

such return-flow of current; and electro'- magnetic means, energized by the generator independently of the charging-circuit and adapted, upon the attainment of a predetermined electromotive force in the generator greater than that of the battery, to cause said circuit-controlling means to cut out said resistance.

3. The combination, with an electric generator, a storage-battery, and a source of power;` of mechanical connections between the source of power and the generator, said connections being adapted to yield when lthe generator tends tov overrun the source of power; a circuit-breaker and conductors connecting it, in a charging-circuit, with the generator and the storage' battery; means adapted to move the circuit-breaker automatically to open-circuit position in cons equence of such yielding movement in said mechanical connections; and means for returning the circuit-breaker automatically to movement of the`circuit-controller toward closed-circuit position -results/m throwing out they one-direction clutch, and vice versa;

gearing and said circuit-controller, whereby' iso quence of a tendency in the generator to overrun the source of power, to cause the y circuit-breaker to move to open-circuit position before the circuit-controller reaches closed-circuit position.

5. The combination, with a storage-bat tery, an electric generator, and an engine; of clutch-mechanism for connecting the generator and the engine, said mechanism being operable, in different `positions, to permit the engine to actuate the generator or to permit the generator to actuate and start the engine, and including, for the former purpose, a one-direction clutch having an automatic throw-out movement when the generator overruns the engine; a circuitbreaker, conductors connecting4 it, in a charging-circuit, with the generator and the Meana@ battery, a circuit-controller connected in shunt around the circuit-breaker, mechanical connections between the clutch-mechanism and the circuit-controller whereby they may be actuated simultaneously to cause the starting of the engine and whereby the circuit-controller may be actuated automatically in consequence of the throw-out action of said one-direction clutch; and means for actuating the circuit-breaker, said means operating under the control of the circuit-controller, when it is actuated automatically as aforesaid, to introduce resistance into the charging-circuit when the generator over runs the engine.

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB. FRNUM F. DORSEY. Witnesses:

L. THON, D. GURNEJE. 

